Wife just got home and so I have more details now. They said it is probably a ball bearing. They happen to have a transmission on hand so they're just going to swap it out and ship the bad one off to Nissan and let them dissect it to see.
'08 Nissan Altima Transmission? Help
- Thread starter FDWxMan
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Wife just got home and so I have more details now. They said it is probably a ball bearing. They happen to have a transmission on hand so they're just going to swap it out and ship the bad one off to Nissan and let them dissect it to see.
Well if CVT's were all that great, everybody would have them. That being said, my brother in law has a Nissan Altima with about 80,000 miles on it and hasn't had a problem.
That's kind of an odd way to look at it.
If diesels were all that great everybody would have them
If leather was all that great everybody would have it
If manual transmissions were all that great everybody would have them
If AWD was all that great everybody would have it
Nissan has been the leader in CVT's but Honda and Toyota are also starting to introduce more cars with this technology. I'd say that's a good sign. I wouldn't want one in a high performance car but they seem to make a lot of sense with certain types of cars.
Service at Hummel's is bad? That's crap...they are one of the best dealerships in the metro when it comes to service.
Because a car has an out of warranty issue is not the fault of the dealership.
Because a car has an out of warranty issue is not the fault of the dealership.
Try reading the whole thread. The car is NOT out of warranty.
The refusal to replace recalled parts not once, not twice, but three times is why I think service is bad.
Finally after a call to Nissan CORPORATE HQ, Hummels called US back to schedule a service time and it was replaced.
Bad form. Especially on something as important as airbags when you're customer shows up with the recall letter that says the dealer is supposed to replace it.
Now, maybe we just got them on a bad day...or I guess three bad days, but at least one other person in this thread has had similar poor experiences.
Not saying they're evil, or everyone should avoid, just stating I haven't been impressed and probably won't be buying my next car there with the list of issues we've had.
Having to call Corporate to get a safety recall fixed by the dealer does = horrible service.
As I pointed out earlier, the out of warranty was my mistake, I was still going off only what my wife had told me, without actually digging through the car documents. My post was incorrect, my fault.
But again, I cleared that up later in the thread.
The car IS in fact under warranty. Thus, Hummels is required to replace it under the terms and conditions of their warranty program. I shouldn't have to be overly grateful that they are playing by the rules. THEIR rules.
I AM grateful that they aren't jerking me around like the recall issue, and I'm not having to take my fight all the way up the corporate ladder to receiver the "best service in the metro" that I am paying for.
Again, this thread isn't about declaring everyone should avoid Hummels or boycott or whatever, just trying to see if others have had issues, mainly with parts (CVTs), but I suppose service since I did bring it up.
Nobody has piped up with other issues with the cars, which makes me feel better going forward with the vehicle. My review of the service dept isn't great, yours is, another's isn't. I'm glad you've had better luck than I.
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Those are all great examples of "neat" things that haven't been adopted industry wide because of cost/benefit for public and industry.
My thought on it is if CVT"s were indeed as reliable, cost effective, and efficient as there cracked up to be, most auto company's(other than Nissan) would be using them. It's kinda like Mazda's Rotary engiine. Neat concept, but never has caught on for a variety of reasons.
CVT's are a good idea and you're right we may see more and more of them. We may not too.
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I'll never go to Hummel's again. Bought a slightly used Maxima there. Told them that one of my drop-dead needs was satellite radio. They produced a Maxima that met my list of expectations, we negotiated and bought it. A week later, after many phone calls with XM I ended up back at the dealership where service informs me there is no satellite receiver, even though it has a satellite radio button on the radio. Arguing ensues. More arguing. Really angry customer. Their suggested solution is for me to just buy after-market, thus rendering the radio controls on the steering wheel useless. In the end I had to pay for the hardware from Nissan and they installed the satellite receiver for 'free'.
We drive a lot of miles. We are anal on servicing our cars and keeping them in top shape. Hummel's will never see one red dime from us again.
Every time someone tells me how great Hummel's sales or service is, I taste just a little bit of throw-up in my mouth.
:frown3qg:
We drive a lot of miles. We are anal on servicing our cars and keeping them in top shape. Hummel's will never see one red dime from us again.
Every time someone tells me how great Hummel's sales or service is, I taste just a little bit of throw-up in my mouth.
:frown3qg:
My experience with CVT transmissions: I have yet to see anybody make one that is bullet proof longterm, and I've been around them all. The theory is great, they are incredibly efficient, but that's pretty much where it ends. They're incredibly expensive to repair, and almost nobody is willing to work on them. Not a good thing if you keep your cars a long time or beyond the warranty period.
I've heard both good and bad about Hummel's service. My only experience with them is on a used car I sold to someone about 6 years ago when I was working at a local new car store. It was a 40k Altima and when the customer went in for their first oil change 3k miles later, they were told that they needed front brakes because they were almost wore out. Of course the customer was really mad at me...until I showed them the repair order where both the pads AND rotors were replaced before we sold it to them. They were the victim of somebody wanting to pad their paycheck since they're paid on commission.
I deal with many, many shops, and all I can say is that generally, the more intermitant the problem, the harder it is to fix. The symptoms may not match what a recall notice says even though it may be the same problem. In the end, it all boils down to how sharp of a tech and service writer you get. And I've been both the winner and loser many times. So when I find one I like, I stick with them.
And for the record, the standard Nissan factory powertrain warranty is 5yr or 60k miles, and has been for many years.
I've heard both good and bad about Hummel's service. My only experience with them is on a used car I sold to someone about 6 years ago when I was working at a local new car store. It was a 40k Altima and when the customer went in for their first oil change 3k miles later, they were told that they needed front brakes because they were almost wore out. Of course the customer was really mad at me...until I showed them the repair order where both the pads AND rotors were replaced before we sold it to them. They were the victim of somebody wanting to pad their paycheck since they're paid on commission.
I deal with many, many shops, and all I can say is that generally, the more intermitant the problem, the harder it is to fix. The symptoms may not match what a recall notice says even though it may be the same problem. In the end, it all boils down to how sharp of a tech and service writer you get. And I've been both the winner and loser many times. So when I find one I like, I stick with them.
And for the record, the standard Nissan factory powertrain warranty is 5yr or 60k miles, and has been for many years.
They'll wait on the 2011s to see if they're going to be problem children as well. I'm sure they made some engineering "fixes," but only time will tell if they were sufficient enough to improve reliability.
I thought I would take a look at some stats.
Consumer reports-Based on 1.3 million vehicles in our latest subscriber survey, these charts give you a rundown on how 2002 through 2011 models
Nissan Altima (CVT) 2002-2011
Transmision reliability
8 years much better (the highest) than average
2 years better than average
Nissan Rogue 2008-2011
Transmision reliability
3 years much better than average
1 year average
Nissan Murano 2003-2011 (2008 was missing?)
Transmission reliability
4 years much better than average
1 better than average
1 average
2 below average (2003 and 2004)
Toyota Prius (CVT) 2002-2011
10 years much better than average
Just to put the problems in perspective. I don't know why I'm defending the CVT, I would prefer a DSG or a manual 6sp but that's mostly for performance reasons.
Consumer reports-Based on 1.3 million vehicles in our latest subscriber survey, these charts give you a rundown on how 2002 through 2011 models
Nissan Altima (CVT) 2002-2011
Transmision reliability
8 years much better (the highest) than average
2 years better than average
Nissan Rogue 2008-2011
Transmision reliability
3 years much better than average
1 year average
Nissan Murano 2003-2011 (2008 was missing?)
Transmission reliability
4 years much better than average
1 better than average
1 average
2 below average (2003 and 2004)
Toyota Prius (CVT) 2002-2011
10 years much better than average
Just to put the problems in perspective. I don't know why I'm defending the CVT, I would prefer a DSG or a manual 6sp but that's mostly for performance reasons.
